The Genesis of Lachmann's Method (review)

Timpanaro's study of the procedure for editing classical texts that has come to be known as "Lachmann's Method" made significant contributions to the history of classical scholarship (by demonstrating the pre-Lachmannian origin of the "Method," by establishing Lachmann's contribution, and by sketching its development before and after Lachmann) and to textual studies (by examining the validity of the "Method" and more generally the application of stemmatics to editing). Although it should be well known to classicists in its various Italians editions (the latest comes "con una Presentazione e una Postilla di Elio Montanari" [Torino 2003]) and in the German edition of 1971, the book may not be accessible to a younger generation of scholars who have no Italian or German, or familiar to scholars working in fields other than classical studies. In the last years of his life Timpanaro himself was largely responsible for this situation since he reacted to strong criticism of parts of the book by declining to revise or republish it, or to allow an English translation. Timpanaro's wife and literary executor gave Most permission to produce an English edition, which he has based on Timpanaro's personal copy (with annotations) of the last Italian edition of 1985 (which he confusingly dates to 1986 twice on p. 27). The result is a lucid translation that will ensure a new and wider audience and offer readers already aquainted with the book an occasion to revisit it.

In editing the text and contributing an introduction, Most nods to Timpanaro's subject and to his penchant for a genealogical approach (cf. 16). For readers interested in the development of Timpanaro's arguments between the first (1963) and the last edition, Most has quoted the variants in Additional Materials B; some of these are extensive, some minor, some rather curious, such as Timpanaro's sharpening of his criticism of Maas in his Italian edition of 1981 (162). In a valuable introduction Most describes Timpanaro's family background and intellectual interests, examines the book's aims, content, and originality, and speculates on formative personal and scholarly influences. But, most usefully, he contextualizes the book's subject matter by outlining how written texts were transmitted and how a procedure like Lachmann's Method sought to rationalize and standardize the choice between the many manuscripts produced by transmission (7–10).

In addressing the book's impact, however, Most is surprisingly disappointing. He states that Timpanaro's historical exposition has stood the test of time, but that his theoretically orientated discussion of the limits of the validity of Lachmann's Method has caused "considerable discussion, controversy, and disagreement" (25); in justifying his translation, Most adds that, despite being criticized, the systematic parts of the work are still pertinent to those interested in textual editing (26). Relevant here is Additional Materials A. This consists of a hitherto unpublished text by Timpanaro that is in large measure an apologia in response to M. D. Reeve's decisive refutation of several of Timpanaro's arguments on Bipartite Stemmas in Appendix A ("Stemmatic Method: 'Qualcosa che non funziona'?," in The Role of the Book in Medieval Culture, ed. P. Ganz, Bibliologia 3 [1986] 57–69). It makes for grim reading as Timpanaro starts by admitting that Reeve has cut his arguments to shreds, by forswearing future work on bipartite stemmas, and by consigning La Genesi to the dustbin of history (207–8). The negativity aside, the document deserved reprinting for Timpanaro's second thoughts and engagement with Reeve (though, as he admits, it will not rescue his earlier treatment, 208). In any case, Timpanaro's recognition of Reeve's criticisms required that the book's reception be given more attention than the summary remarks quoted above and the comment that attends the welcome selective bibliography of scholarship postdating 1986, which will allow readers to gauge "how Timpanaro's views are regarded today" (27). Consideration of the book...